The era of the self-driving car is just around the corner. Manufacturers like Tesla have long been pushing for a world where your car is connected to a 5G IoT network. To better prepare for that eventual inevitability, a number of organisations and automotive manufacturers are creating new technologies for connected cars designed to make driving these vehicles all the safer.
One such tool is the HD map. These autonomous maps are designed with localisation and decision making in mind. How, though, do these maps come together? How do they work? And when should you expect to see them in your car?
Autonomous driving and the HD maps
Letting go of the urge to control a car is difficult enough on its own. But letting an integrated system tell your car where to go? Now that’s an exercise in trust. Companies like TomTom are interested in helping make that decision easier with their HD maps.
Depending on who’s making the map, HD maps are either created using pre-existing data collected by self-driving cars or by volunteers. Once a vehicle is able to process the data that’s been shared with it, it can safely navigate all of its passengers to their preferred destination.
Not only will these maps provide autonomous cars with a pre-existing understanding of what a particular road looks like, but your car will be able to update its map’s database as it takes you to your destination. Its connections to the IoT will let your car stay up to date on traffic, weather, and construction that might otherwise delay your trip.
Improving HD map safety
At the moment, there are a few key features that developers have determined are essential to the basic HD map. These features include:
- Speed – Not only does an HD map have to connect to an IoT’s 5G source, but it has to process unimaginable amounts of data in little to no time at all. Then, it has to share that data with the rest of your car’s computer and respond to any challenges that may make it more difficult for you to reach your location.
- Quality – After speed comes the question of quality. You need to know that the data your self-driving vehicle’s HD map is taking in the correct data. Furthermore, you need to know that the processing of that data is error-free. If it isn’t, your trip to the grocery store may end up turning into a trip to the River Thames.
- Cost – Finally, automotive manufacturers are concerned about the cost of future HD maps. As is the case with many new technologies, there threatens to be a price barrier between an HD mapping tool and the consumers who would benefit from its presence. It’s up to the manufacturers to decide how they want to lower costs and, if they can’t, who’ll have access to this new technology.
HD map options and organisations
There are already a number of automotive manufacturers, affiliated partners, and independent organisations investing time and resources in the development of tools like the HD map. TomTom is one of the front-runners, when it comes to these developments, toting a desire for consumer safety as its motive for further development.
The Toyota Research Institute is currently collaborating with Carmera to create an industry-rooted HD map that can be integrated into the vehicles the company releases in the future.
The good news is that mass-development of this kind sparks creativity. Over the next few years, drivers invested in the development of automotive technologies made to support self-driving cars will likely see these maps become higher-quality and easier to use.
The Pros and Cons of HD Map Development
As always, the increasing automation in the automotive industry raises questions about cybersecurity. After all, if your car and HD map are connected to an unsafe 5G connection, couldn’t the ambition hacker seize control of the car and kidnap the passengers inside – or worse?
Automotive manufacturers are aware of the risks involved with automated driving. Thus, security measures are already being set into place that’ll keep driver data safe. Not only that, but HD maps will be encrypted, upon commercial installation, making the data they store exceptionally difficult to reach.
Does this mean that automated vehicles and HD maps are going to be entirely safe? No. Someone out in the world always has the capability to experiment with technology in ways automotive manufacturers and security experts can’t expect. However, as these tools are better researched and developed, they’ll become safer for the general public to use.
From here, it is up to automotive manufacturers and independent organisations to determine when the best time to release HD mapping technology onto today’s self-driving cars is.
As the automotive industry moves forward, the promise of change becomes inescapable. Hopefully, the tools of today will pave the way for a safer and more connected tomorrow.